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Sanjay Raut, Eknath Khadse were labelled as anti-social elements to tap phones: Police
The revelation comes after Mumbai's Colaba police started the investigation into an illegal phone tapping case registered against senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla.
Mumbai Police on Wednesday said that the phones of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse were tapped on the pretext of them being anti-social elements, reported news agency ANI. The police noted that the additional chief secretary (home) gave permission to intercept phone calls because some “other names were mentioned” as anti-social elements in the letter from the State Intelligence Department (SID).
“After that, the phone of NCP leader Eknath Khadse was tapped for 67 days while that of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was tapped for 60 days,” ANI quoted Mumbai Police as saying.
Reacting to this, Raut said that SID commissioner Rashmi Shukla breached their privacy by falsely labelling them as anti-social elements during the government formation in 2019. He accused the Centre of giving protection to police officers who are “working for one party”.
"It has come to light that, our phones were tapped when the government was being formed in 2019. Whether it is me or Eknath Khadse or Nana Patole, we were termed as anti-social elements and phones were tapped. Some were called gangster, drug peddler, etc. Our privacy was breached. The police officer, who we expect to work neutrally, was working to show loyalty to a leader or a party. The officer is now being given protection by the Centre, which is really unfortunate," said Raut.
The revelation comes after Mumbai's Colaba police started the investigation into an illegal phone tapping case registered against senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla under the Telegraph Act. On the complaint of a senior police officer, Colaba police registered a case against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla for allegedly keeping Raut and Khadse under constant surveillance when she was heading Maharahstra's SID.
Khadse's phone was allegedly tapped twice in 2019 when he was with the ruling BJP. Raut's phone was also tapped in November 2019 during the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Sources in the police said that Shukla allegedly tapped the phones with “vested political interest” when state assembly elections were held.
In July 2021, the MVA government formed a three-member committee comprising DGP Maharashtra, State Intelligence Department (SID) commissioner and additional commissioner of police (special branch-1, Mumbai) to probe the alleged illegal phone tappings between 2015 to 2019. The probe committee, in its report, said Shukla did not follow rules and guidelines laid down by the central government on phone surveillance.
Shukla, 57, is presently on central deputation and posted as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Hyderabad.
(With ANI inputs)
